Poker Face
by Kat.R.777
Summary: They'd walked into the room under the delusion that the Faerie Queen might help them in some way, and in less than ten minutes she had broken Jace beyond repair. / Seelie Court scene, Isabelle's POV. SPOILERS if you haven't read that far. Jace/Clary.


**Author's Note: This is just a pointless, incredibly short one-shot on what I thought might be going on in Isabelle's head during the Seelie Court scene. She sort of seemed to shrug everything off, but I figured her inward reaction might be a little different. The focus is mainly on Jace, because I think that's who she'd be most worried about. **

**Thanks to everyone who has read this one-shot and/or favourited it. To the person who put this story on alert, I'm sorry, but it **_**is**_** just a one-shot. I'll probably write more stuff for TMI, but this story is done. Special thanks to **Mayou-Chan** and **Laffy-Taffy0401** for reviewing.**

**Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare owns the TMI series. I am not Cassandra Clare.**

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><p><strong>Poker Face<strong>

It wasn't until the Queen announced that Clary could only be freed by the kiss she most desired that Isabelle realized she'd made a huge mistake in bringing them all to the Seelie Court. She'd been so excited about seeing Meliorn again (though later she couldn't remember why, because he was about as interesting and passionate as a rock) that she'd forgotten how cruel the fey could be.

The kiss Clary most desired, and the Queen had said it wasn't Simon's… Sure, Isabelle acted like it was no big deal, Clary and Jace kissing, and she tried her best to make herself believe that. Oh, she'd seen the way Jace looked at Clary – of course she had, she'd known him for nearly six years – but she'd told herself that he was just infatuated, that soon enough he would get used to the idea of Clary being his sister and his feelings would fade. In fact, maybe the kiss would help. Maybe they would kiss and feel repulsed and then Jace could love Clary the way he was supposed to, the way he loved Isabelle.

But when their lips touched, they didn't immediately pull away with mutual looks of disgust on their faces. Instead, they lost control. Clary put her arms around Jace's neck and he tangled his fingers in her hair, and then they were kissing fiercely like they'd been waiting for this moment their entire lives.

Isabelle had to look away. Because by the Angel, what was this kiss going to do to Jace afterwards, when it occurred to him that he'd only gotten a taste of what he could never have again? Her gaze landed on Simon's distraught face, and she found it almost as hard to bear. Of course he was distraught; the girl he loved would rather kiss her own brother than him. So she turned to the Queen, who was wearing a delighted expression that made Isabelle want to tear her to pieces for putting them all through this.

Finally, finally, _finally_ Jace pulled away from Clary. They stared at each other. Isabelle hadn't been too fond of Clary in the beginning, and she had always been very wary of the effect the redhead had on Jace, but she took in Clary's lost expression now and her heart ached for the petite girl. She didn't deserve to be a pawn in the Faerie Queen's cruel game.

Then Isabelle flicked her eyes to Jace– and the look on his face made her want to scream. Because she'd been wrong this whole time. He wasn't just infatuated with Clary. He wasn't ever going to get over her. He would try again and again to move on, and he would fail every time. He would love her for the rest of his life, and it would slowly kill him from the inside out.

Isabelle looked at the Queen again, at her icy eyes and her fiery hair and her twisted smile, and hated her more than she'd ever hated anyone in her entire life. They'd walked into the room under the delusion that the Faerie Queen might help them in some way, and in less than ten minutes she had broken Jace beyond repair.

And Isabelle? Her own heart was breaking for Jace and Clary and Simon, and for herself, because she would be expected to be the strong one. She would be expected to urge them all forward like nothing had changed. She would have to go back to Alec and Magnus and act like everything was okay when the truth was that Jace would never be okay again.

Dimly, she registered her brother – because he w_as_ her brother, more than he would ever be Clary's – making some snarky comment to the Queen. "Easy, Jace," Isabelle cautioned, and ignoring the twisting in her stomach, she turned to Clary and asked, "Can you leave now? Are you free?"

The tiny red-haired girl headed for the door, and nothing tried to stop her. "We should go," Clary said, looking back at poor Simon. "Before it's too late."

So Isabelle squared her shoulders, prepared to put on her mask and pretend that she was unfazed by everything that had just happened. But the reality was that she was thinking and feeling exactly what Simon said next.

"It's already too late."

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><p><strong>Author's Note: All the dialogue is directly from the books. I left some parts out, because I don't think Isabelle would pay attention to everything they said. Reviews are appreciated. I'd prefer constructive criticism, but that doesn't mean I'm going to bite your head off if you flame. If this one-shot sucks, it sucks, and I'll be better off knowing that so I can improve. <strong>


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